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====Shale and clay as food and food detoxifier====

====Shale and clay as food and food detoxifier====

Many African tribes eat clay as a source of food. It is intended to create a sensation of ‘fullness’ in the stomach. It is done as part of the menu in most cases. Geophagy is also practiced in times of famine. At such times, most people depend heavily on the eating of clay, shale or soil for survival as food supply dwindles, as a result of flood, drought or war. In South America, the Ottomac tribe resorts to the eating of soil when their local supply of fish and turtles declines during a time of annual flooding. The soil was prepared from alluvial sand molded into 12.5 cm–15 cm diameter balls.<ref name=Setal2013 /> Food shortage has also been reported as the cause of geophagy in Malawi.<ref name=Setal2013 />

Many African tribes eat clay as a source of food. It is intended to create a sensation of ‘fullness’ in the stomach. It is done as part of the menu in most cases. Geophagy is also practiced in times of famine. At such times, most people depend heavily on the eating of clay, shale or soil for survival as food supply dwindles, as a result of flood, drought or war. In South America, the Ottomac tribe resorts to the eating of soil when their local supply of fish and turtles declines during a time of annual flooding. The soil was prepared from [[alluvial]] sand molded into 12.5 cm–15 cm diameter balls.<ref name=Setal2013 /> Food shortage has also been reported as the cause of geophagy in Malawi.<ref name=Setal2013 />

In addition, shale, clays and soils are used as food detoxifiers. This is practiced mostly during times of famine to detoxify toxic food items from plant origin before consumption. Clay is used in this regard because of its cation exchange capacity so that potentially harmful chemicals get adsorbed into the clay structure making the food item harmless. This is practiced by some African tribes who use clay to detoxify wild yam, Dioscorea dumentorum, during famine. The use of clays and soil to detoxify wild plant foodstuffs is not restricted to Africans alone, the Aymara and Quechua people who live on the Andes of Bolivia and Peru consume wild potatoes by dipping them in clay slurry. The clay slurry effectively removes potentially toxic glycoalkaloids and, thus, renders it harmless to the natives.<ref name=Setal2013 />

In addition, shale, clays and soils are used as food detoxifiers. This is practiced mostly during times of famine to detoxify toxic food items from plant origin before consumption. Clay is used in this regard because of its cation exchange capacity so that potentially harmful chemicals get adsorbed into the clay structure making the food item harmless. This is practiced by some African tribes who use clay to detoxify wild yam, Dioscorea dumentorum, during famine. The use of clays and soil to detoxify wild plant foodstuffs is not restricted to Africans alone, the Aymara and Quechua people who live on the Andes of Bolivia and Peru consume wild potatoes by dipping them in clay slurry. The clay slurry effectively removes potentially toxic glycoalkaloids and, thus, renders it harmless to the natives.<ref name=Setal2013 />